The invention relates generally to sealable cartons, and more particularly to sealable cartons having diagonal corners blanks for forming such cartons.
A tray-like, shallow carton having angled (or diagonal) corners is a convenient means of packaging many items, particularly generally flat food items such as pizza pies. The angled corners provide a geometric structure that strengthens the carton by increasing its load-bearing capacity. The contents of such a carton are protected from damage that might occur from loads typically placed upon the carton. An example of a typical load is the weight produced when multiple cartons are stacked one upon another for shipping and/or storage. Often, although the angled corner structure is beneficial, the resulting geometric configuration results in a substantially open or openable corner structure through which contaminants may enter. What is needed is a diagonally-corned carton whose angled corners inhibit the entrance of contaminants into the carton.
Blanks for forming cartons are generally manufactured from rectilinear carton-forming material such as paperboard. It is highly desirable to minimize the amount of excess carton-forming material that is discarded when such blanks are made. It would be extremely useful to have a blank which can be cut or otherwise formed from a standard sheet of rectilinear carton-forming material with minimal excess material produced. When a carton is provided with tabs, flaps and the like to seal the carton corners, it becomes more difficult to design an efficient blank layout. What is needed, therefore, is not only a diagonally-corned carton whose angled-corners are securable but also a blank for making such a sealable carton, which blank may be manufactured with a minimum of excess carton-forming material.